It's her party, she can cry if she wants to!

And cry she did.  Well, at least some of the time.  In true Anna fashion, she became very nervous and anxious the second people started arriving for the birthday party.  Still, she did calm down, as long as she was allowed to remain firmly attached to Mommy Central, (i.e., to ME).  They tell me she’ll outgrow this leach-like existence, though I’ve seen no sign of it lately. I’m not complaining, though.  I plan to hold her tight for as long as she’ll let me.  There’ll be years enough in the future to put her down. 

Truly, it was a very fun party.  Many of my friends from the playgroup came with their children, as well and Fred and Robin, Terry and Lisa and the kids.  Anna thoroughly enjoyed her birthday cupcake, and tried to reach out and grab it instead of blow it out, which was pretty darn cute.  I blew it out for her at the last moment before her fingers discovered fire. I think Kurt has a picture, (which he swears he will give to me, along with the other hundred or so he’s been promising to burn for me for the past year.  No pressure, sweetie!).  She really started to loosen up when it came time to open her presents.  So many toys!  And, even better, so much paper, so many bags and ribbons!  She had a blast, and everyone really went all out.  She received blocks and balls and toy cars and a drum and rattle and xylophone and an exersaucer, and even the long-acclaimed “School House Rock!” DVD.  Kurt and I have been really enjoying that one.  But that’s the real reason we have kids, right?  So we can play with all their toys!

She also received an entire wardrobe of mix n’ match outfits from Terry Bear, thank you so much.  Later that night, Terry gave us another present, too, by babysitting at the last minute so that I could go to Kurt’s band’s final show.  They’re taking a creative break, so it was really nice to get to see them together for what may be the last time.  Aren’t we lucky to have such a wonderful Bear? All in all, it was a very fun birthday extravaganza.

Monday we had her one-year well baby check up, which went okay.  She had to have FOUR shots, poor girl, and was very upset about the injustice of it all.  She’s still a skinny-mini, coming in at a little over 17 pounds, which is 3^rd percentile.  However, she has consistently been 3^rd percentile since birth, so the doctor’s aren’t worried.  She’s just thin like her daddy.  She’s still extra-long, too, but altogether healthy.  The doctor was somewhat concerned that she’s not crawling, standing or pulling up yet, but he said not to worry, so I’m just going to turn off my over-active mommy-worry sensor and turn to the doctor-prescribed remedy: time.  In the meanwhile, we’ll just enjoy the fact that she mostly stays where we put her.  *grin*

Thanks again for all the presents, love and well-wishes.  This was a wonderful 1^st birthday for all of us! Now that it is over, we get to turn our attention to the holidays.  Turkey, anyone?